Unions Press Oaktree to Prevent L.A. Times Sale to Kochs

May 9 (Bloomberg) -- Labor groups are putting pressure on
Tribune Co.’s largest shareholder to prevent the possible sale
of the Los Angeles Times to billionaire brothers David and
Charles Koch.

The Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO plans a
protest next week outside the downtown offices of Oaktree
Capital Group LLC co-founder Bruce Karsh, who is also chairman
of Tribune, owner of the Times. The group seeks to prevent a
sale to Wichita, Kansas-based Koch Industries Inc., one of the
largest privately held companies in the world. It cited the
brothers’ efforts to weaken worker bargaining rights.

“It’s shocking that Oaktree Capital would even consider
selling to the Koch brothers,” Maria Elena Durazo, who heads
the local federation, said in a statement posted on its website
yesterday. “Oaktree manages billions of dollars in public
employee pension money and the Kochs have been at the forefront
of trying to destroy public employee unions and collective
bargaining from Wisconsin to California.”

Karsh, the Kochs and Gary Weitman, a spokesman for Chicago-based Tribune, didn’t immediately respond to messages left after
normal business hours yesterday.

Oaktree Capital owns 18.2 million shares of Tribune, or
about 23 percent of the outstanding shares as of Dec. 31,
according to Bloomberg data.

About one-quarter of Oaktree Capital’s assets come from
public employee pension fund investments, the New York Times
reported earlier. The newspaper said 10 public-employee unions
sent a letter to Oaktree urging it not to sell to the Kochs. The
newspaper reported in April that the Kochs were weighing a bid
for Tribune’s newspapers, which include the Chicago Tribune,
Baltimore Sun and Orlando Sentinel.

The protest is scheduled for noon local time on May 14.

Charles and David Koch rank sixth and seventh on the
Bloomberg Billionaires Index, with an estimated net worth of
about $45 billion. Their Americans for Prosperity spent $140
million in 2012 political races, urging voters to oppose
President Obama and supporting Senate candidates.